The new novel in the beloved New York Times bestselling Longmire series.One of the most viewed paintings in American history, Custer’s Last Fight, copied and distributed by Anheuser-Busch at a rate of over two million copies a year, was destroyed in a fire at the 7th Cavalry Headquarters in Fort Bliss, Texas, in 1946. Or was it? When Charley Lee Stillwater dies of an apparent heart attack at the … apparent heart attack at the Wyoming Home for Soldiers & Sailors, Walt Longmire is called in to try and make sense of a piece of a painting and a Florsheim shoebox containing a million dollars, sending the good sheriff on the trail of a dangerous art heist.
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Next to Last Stand sees Johnson take Walt Longmire a step back from the grim trappings of the last couple novels and propels him through a fun mystery centered on an intriguing piece of real-life art. All the Longmire novels have been good to great, and Next to Last Stand’s particularly great side characters and the intrigue around the painting land this one squarely in the great category.
4 bright stars for another enjoyable book by Craig Johnson. All the familiar characters are here:
Henry Standing Bear, native Cheyenne owner of the Red Pony bar
Walt Longmire, Absaroka County Sheriff
Victoria Moretti, Walt’s under sheriff and sometime lover
Ruby, Absaroka County dispatcher
This book is #16 in the series, and I recommend that you read them in order, as the book refers to incidents in previous books. The book centers on a famous painting “Custer’s Last Fight.” Millions of copies of this painting were distributed by beer maker Anheuser-Busch. It was supposedly destroyed in a fire in 1946. But then a resident of the Veterans’ Home of Wyoming dies and Walt is called in by the director Carol because she found a shoe box with $1 million in cash in Charley Lee Stillwater’s room. Walt searches the room and finds a painting proof that looks like it is connected to the supposedly destroyed “Custer’s Last Fight.”
Unraveling the mystery of the million dollars and the painting leads Walt into a dangerous game of cat and mouse with killers. He does solve the case with help from Victoria and residents of the Veterans’ Home.
There are laugh out loud lines in this book,
Walt and Henry discussing Custer: Walt: “Custer was a dashing and flamboyant commander…”
Henry; “A devious and irrational bundle of manic depression who finished last in his class at West Point—in short a horse’s ass.”
Both my wife and I enjoy this series. I read this library book in 2 days.
Huge fan of Craig Johnson, but this is my most favorite- to date!
Great book! Longmire is a great and complex character. Fun to read.
In NEXT TO LAST STAND, Craig Johnson shows us another, quieter side of Walt Longmire. The story centers on a famous western painting that was assumed destroyed in a fire many years ago. However, a man dies at the local old folks home, and among his meager possessions is a fragment of a painting that could well be from the long lost work of art. Walt and his forever candid (and naughty!) Undersheriff Vic Moretti follow a twisted trail through the world of western art, large wads of cash, and murder to find out what the heck is going on. This, in my humble opinion, is Johnson’s best work. Much of the action is intellectual as Walt ponders what may be his last stand as Sheriff of Absaroka County. Kudos!
Yes, I’m a huge fan of Craig Johnson’s Waltmire series, and we’ve already listened to the audible version of The Next Stand. I think Mr. Johnson took mercy on both Walt and his fans by backing off on the horrendous, enforcement aspect of the sheriff’s life. One might even say, it was light-hearted. Definitely, an easier pace and less complicated plot which one might deduce from the shorter length of the narrative. It’s still worth the journey. Personally, I’m glad Walt only ended up with, what was it, 24 stitches?
Johnson has written a marvelous story about characters that you want to wave at along the highway, meet in person, and get to know. Characters to remember. Yes, this book has a lot of history, and as a disclaimer I must admit I love history, I read history, and I write history. Johnson gives us this history from two viewpoints, Walt’s and Standing Bear’s – two cultures. Fascinating and well written, Johnson uses the interaction between his characters to present a little know bit of American culture and history. Ignore those ratings that complain about too much history and enjoy a wonderful, FUNNY book that also contains an imaginative chase scene that is all Longmire.
I really like Craig Johnson, but this isn’t one of the better books.
The entire book seems disjointed, haphazard.
A fairly interesting historical story mixed with a typical Walt Longmire who done it, Wyoming style. Fast paced and funny thru out the novel. The chemistry between the characters keeps the reader riveted and cannot wait for the next novel. If this is the swan song for a couple of the main characters, like the author has hinted at. Then so be it, but they made the storylines more enjoyable and relatable. The description and detail of Wyoming lifestyle, has always resonated with me. This is one author who I will readily go out of my way to read, and to go back and re-read his novels.